The Word Processing Screen

The word processing screen will vary from program to program, but all of them have some common elements. Take a look at the following table.

Title Bar
Menu Bar
Toolbar
Ruler
Text Area with Insertion Point
Status Bar

Most word processing windows contain the following elements:

• Title Bar: contains the name of the word processor
• Menu Bar: a list of pull-down menus for doing most functions in a word processor
• Toolbar: a set of buttons to carry out common commands, such as opening a file, printing, cut, copy, paste, etc. Pointing to a button will give the name of the button
• Ruler: located just above the text area, it will indicate locations of margins, indents, and tabs
• Text area: this is the area where the document will be displayed
• Insertion Point: a blinking cursor to indicate where text, tables, or graphics will be inserted
• Status Bar: usually located at the bottom of the screen, it gives information on the document, such as the page and line numbers, the name of the file, and whether a person is in insert or typeover mode